Decorative light fixtures typically include an attractive housing with a light source that is typically a metal halide lamp or a halogen lamp or an incandescent lamp. These light fixtures work well, but can be improved by using a more efficient and longer lasting light source.
Light emitting diodes (LEDs) can provide a bright, longer lasting light engine as compared to a metal halide lamp or a halogen lamp. LEDs, however, generate a great amount of heat that needs to be dissipated to provide a bright, long lasting light engine. Dissipating this heat can be difficult where it is desirable to use an attractive housing that is similar in configuration to the known decorative housings used with metal halide or halogen lamps.
A known decorative light fixture that employs an LED light engine in a conventional attractive housing, i.e., one that would typically include a metal halide or halogen lamp, conducts heat generated by the LEDs either into a pole upon which the light fixture is mounted or maintains the heat within a glass enclosure that forms a part of the housing. Either situation limits the amount of power that can be delivered to the LEDs. This is due to the pole typically not being a very good heat conductor or that the heat maintained within the glass enclosure results in heat still being maintained in a volume that is adjacent the LEDs. Furthermore, where the heat is dissipated into the pole upon which the light fixture is mounted, the pole can get hot. Also, for light fixtures where no pole is provided, e.g. a pendent light fixture, there is no pole which can act as a heat sink.
Another drawback with known attractive light fixtures that employ an LED light engine is that the LEDs are point light sources, which are visible when viewing the light fixture from horizontal. When these point light sources are visible, this can result in an unattractive look for the light fixture.